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Richmond Mercurio - The Philippine Star
March 24, 2025 | 12:00am
In an interview, Philex chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan hinted that the group has found a foreign investor for the development of the Silangan project, but did not confirm if a deal has been closed.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — Philex Mining Corp. is close to striking gold, with a new investor poised to come in for the company’s Silangan project in Surigao del Norte.
In an interview, Philex chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan hinted that the group has found a foreign investor for the development of the Silangan project, but did not confirm if a deal has been closed.
“If you’re an investor, where will you go? Of course there in the new one and with high grade ore,” Pangilinan said, referring to the Silangan gold and copper mine.
Pangilinan said Philex would likely maintain majority control in Silangan, with the incoming investor taking a minority stake.
Philex has previously expressed its openness to investors who may want to infuse fresh funds for the development of the Silangan project.
The share price of Philex has been surging as of late, closing at P7.15 apiece last Friday, near its 52-week high of P7.18.
Philex earlier said the development of the Silangan project registered a major milestone with the underground main access decline reaching the Santa Barbara 1 ore body and marking 7.5 million uninterrupted man-hours without loss time accident as of Jan. 18, 2025.
Underground production tunnels and the tailings storage facility are expected to be completed by the third quarter of the year, while the process plant will be ready for commissioning by the fourth quarter.
Phase 1 of the Silangan project, which is touted as one of the big three mining projects in the country, has an estimated mine life of 28 years based on its declared mineable reserves of 81 million metric tons, resulting in a recoverable copper of 993 million pounds and 2.8 million ounces of gold.
“For Silangan, we will protect the showstoppers to avoid any further delay in the commissioning of the project, and we are thankful to our shareholders, lenders, suppliers, consultants and the national and local government units for their confidence and continued support to make Silangan project operational by Q1 2026, marking a new era for Philex and the Philippine mining industry” Philex president and CEO Eulalio Austin Jr. said.
“It is imperative that Silangan be ushered into production before the expected mine life of Padcal comes to a close,” he said.
